Common

At several points during their little game, Fledge had sworn she was going to bite him or throttle him, but not once did she follow through. The first time, he had instinctively flinched, but from then on, he had risen to the challenge of standing his ground and maintaining pace. Like Faolain, he could have kept it up for hours, and he wondered if that had been her intention. Fledge was genuinely curious when she began to slow down, and he followed her lead with a flicker of his ears and wide, inquisitive eyes. The autumn air was fresh, and the burn of exertion in his chest felt well and truly good. It was nothing like the fatigue and weariness that came with swimming, that much was for sure.

Energy still ran through him, and he parades in a wide circle around her just the once before he tossed his dark mane and settled into place across from her. He still shifted ever so slightly on his hooves, but he finally took the time to really look at the stranger he'd shared such fun with. Faolain was like a shadow to him, dark even in the warm light of the sun. Fledge searched her face, trying to find more about her lingering there. Eyes, he'd learned, often told their own stories, but so did mouths, ears, even the way somebody held themselves while at rest. At least, Fledge had been told that and he'd always made assumptions based on it...It's why he tried so hard to look approachable and relaxed, but always with an intense curiosity in his dark eyes. As for Faolain? Well...Fledge had to admit that was harder. He aleady has a bias, after all, so he could see mischief and playfulness but little else.

Her comment made him grin, and he danced briefly on the spot with little, prancing steps. "Please, there's no need to thank me! It was my pleasure, after all." He bowed his head in a playful half-bow, then moved to exchange breaths as was practically customary among their kind. It was good, he had to admit, that those kinds of things were still the norm on the islands.

When she asked about the Crossing, and then introduced herself, he looked at her quizically for a moment before he shook his head lightly. "I'm Fledge, and it's been a joy to meet you Faolain," he said, figuring it best to get that out of the way before he had to admit it... "And if I'm honest, Faolain, I've little clue as to where you'd call the place I live, for it's...Well, nowhere really." He grinned, a little sheepish and a little...proud? It was an awkward thing to confess, not just the fact that he was well and truly by himself either. "The Crossing...and the Ridge. Those are places, or herds?" Always unafraid to ask a question, even if it were a foolish one. It might have been awkward or a little embarrassing at times, but there was no shame in it.

He looked back over his shoulder, and then back over Faolain's in front of him. At a guess, they must have been standing somewhere in the Crossing, but as for the Ridge...If he squinted, he could see the outlines of mountains. Somewhere there? Or a specific ridge? He realized he might have looked a little bit too distracted at that point, trying to find some distant land on the horizon, so he quickly shook his head again and looked back into Faolain's face with an apologetic bow and grin. "I hope my foreign-ness isn't showing too much," he said with a small chuckle. If she'd thanked him for his energy, it was fast looking like he'd have to end up thanking her for her patience.